by jon bosworth jaxvillain@yahoo.com
Beginning on Monday December 18th Jack Rabbits kicks off their annual Twelve Days of Christmas. Jack Rabbits is known among local musicians as the salvation of the local music scene. Before Jack Rabbits opened, there were huge gaps of time when there would be no clubs that would let original bands play. When Jack Rabbits finally came around, the music scene started to flourish. Of course it is impossible to please everybody, and Jack Rabbits has its share of bad blood in the music scene, for the most part people that enjoy bands that aren’t big enough to sell out the arena appreciate a club like Jack Rabbits that brings great bands in. I couldn’t begin to tell you how many great shows I’ve seen in that smoky little room. From Modest Mouse to Yellowcard, I’ve seen so many great shows there that it even rivals Einstein’s in my memory.
To those musicians honest enough to admit it to themselves, Jack Rabbits is the patriarch of the local music scene. They cultivated a scene that was starting to disappear after the Milk Bar and the Moto Lounge closed back in the mid-nineties. Since opening, owners Tim and Ann Hall have managed to start a couple of annual trends. One is their Freedom Rock show on the Fourth of July, where you can expect to hear great local bands covering patriotic songs of their own choosing, and the Twelve Days of Christmas. You aren’t necessarily guaranteed a Christmas carol, or even a gentile band, but the Halls try to book Jacksonville’s best local bands during this event.
When you catch a show at Jack Rabbits you can’t always count on the band being specifically your tastes. On any given night you could be listening to a metal, punk, or hip-hop group, so make sure you check their schedule before you head out. Also make sure that you know the time. On weeknights, if they say the show starts at eight, it will start at eight and if you show up at eight thirty, you are very likely to miss the first band.
Any local musician will also tell you that Jack Rabbits has the best sound of any local room. They always have a professional sound technician that works with the band (unlike Freebird where the sound technicians seem to work against the bands) and they convey a great mix in the small room. Although it often seems too loud, that is usually what the band wants.
Some bands to look for during the Twelve Days of Christmas include the hard-rock-indie of (Schwa)Ray. Although they may bill themselves as math rock, they have more of a radio rock feel. I haven’t heard them since their most recent lineup change, but they are worth a listen. (Schwa)Ray plays with Man Size Rat on December 20th.
Jacksonville locals-gone-New York, Orange Park, will bring their peculiar breed of pop-rock to Jack Rabbits on December 22nd with Sensei. See our interview with this band in this issue for more details about them. On December 23rd it will be beginning to feel a lot like metal when Dummo takes the stage. Joining them are the radio rockers Manna Zen and Down Theory.
Take Christmas Eve off and come back for a quiet acoustic Christmas with the gorgeous and talented Christina Wagner and a number of other acoustic acts. Christina’s set is always heart-wrenching and a little erotic. She can’t help that, what her stylish beauty doesn’t do for you, her exotic voice certainly will. She isn’t girl folk, she has strength and intent behind her music.
On December 28th the Twelve Days celebration goes street with four of Jacksonville’s hottest hip-hop acts on one stage. The ABs (pronounced the A-Bees) formerly known as Asamov, take the stage and set this small room on fire. If you are not familiar with Willie Evans Jr, Therapy, Basic, and J-One-Da, then get ready. This is hip-hop as good as you will find anywhere in the US performed by true musicians, and when it comes to the show, they don’t slack. Like B-Boys that hail back to the old pass-the-mic days of hip-hop, these guys aren’t your street-gangster-gone-rappers. They make their beats, then they make the most of them live. They are joined by Astronautilus, the trip-hoppin Rob Roy, who is a one-man-show in his own right, and the crunk sounds of Swordz. All of these groups are on the cusp of big things, national attention, and major success, so catch them in this rare intimate setting while you can.
On December 29th Dang! and Hand of the Host will bring the rock back into the club. Dang! is a power-rock band that will make you get up, get down, get up off of your seat. Like the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion getting chased around with guns in the hands of a drunk Lynyrd Skynyrd, Dang! makes you have fun, or else. They are joined by the sometimes raw crooning blues of Hand of the Host. This band is fronted by Jacksonville songwriter of Common Thread fame Joe Parker, and he is backed by a full-scale four-piece band of skilled musicians. They play it sloppy by choice, but this is far from their first rodeo.
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